RIGHTS CATALOGUE 2019 - Publishing high-quality books for children and young adults - Ford Street Publishing
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Publishing high-quality books for
children and young adults
RIGHTS CATALOGUE 2019
1
Contents
Ford Street Publishing
o Younger Readers
162 Hoddle Street
Abbotsford, VIC 3067
o Middle Readers
Australia
o Older Readers
Ph: +61 3 9416 4062
Email: Paul or Abigail intrights@fordstreetpublishing.com
Web: fordstreetpublishing.com
2
Playground Circus Grace’s Mystery Seed
Younger Written by Chrissy Byers and illustrated by Written by Juliet M Sampson and illustrated by
Simon O’Carrigan Karen Erasmus
Readers hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 3-6 years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 4-9 years
A family visit to the playground becomes a circus ‘Polly likes these stripy seeds,’ Grace said.
extravaganza. This little girl can do anything, if only ‘What are they from?’
her mum would look up from her phone and join ‘Let’s find out,’ said Mrs Marino.
in the fun.
Grace and her neighbour plant a mystery seed.
Uniquely written through the eyes of a child They wait and wait for ages.
growing up in a technologically driven
Then a little green shoot starts to grow . . . and
society, Playground Circus is a gently amusing
grow . . . and grow . . . until, at last, Grace
story about the magic of imaginative play and
discovers the truth about her amazing mystery
what we miss when we’re not paying attention.
seed.
3
The Greatest Book in the Jacaranda Magic My Dog Socks
World Written by Dannika Patterson and illustrated Written by Robyn Osborne and illustrated by
Written by Matt Porter and illustrated by Dave by Megan Forward Sadami Konchi
Atze hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 4-7 years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 4+ years
hardback, paperback • 32 pages
Five friends are feeling bored on a hot sticky day. Notable Book – Children’s Book Council of Australia
In this laugh-out-loud read, Rudolf Wordsmith
Just when they think they’ll never find anything Shortlisted – Speech Pathology Australia Book of the
requests that readers finish his rhyming couplets
fun to play, a simple gust of wind changes Year
and admonishes them when they’re tricked into
everything . . .
supplying a ‘rude’ rhyme.
Join Socks in his secret world, where imagination
Jacaranda Magic is a unique rhyming picture book
rules and the everyday becomes extraordinary.
This trickery is achieved through clever text and that celebrates imaginative play and highlights the
Socks is not just an ordinary dog. Through a child’s
lively illustrations. As the reader’s ‘rude’ rhymes value of boredom and nature in inspiring
eyes he becomes an enchanted character of many
cause the illustrator to draw Rudolf in humiliating creativity.
disguises. One day he’s a contented cow rolling in
predicaments, he becomes increasingly frustrated.
grass, the next a sleek seal basking on rocks. Socks
This culminates in a surprising and hilarious ending
offers unconditional love and loyalty, for ‘when he
that will have children howling with laughter.
is by my side, he is my best friend’.
4
MoonFish The Perfect Leaf Welcome Home
By Harry Laing By Andrew Plant By Christina Booth
paperback • 32 pages • 6+ years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 4+ years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 7+ years
Rights sold: Korea
The Perfect Leaf takes the simple joy of leaf-kicking
and turns it into an extraordinary flight of the
MoonFish is Harry Laing's sparky new collection of
imagination. The autumn theme promotes
poems featuring eye-catching and fresh art by WINNER – 2014 Environment Award for Children’s
discussions of seasons, time and colours for early
some of Australia's best known illustrators Literature: Picture Fiction by The Wilderness Society
readers.
including Shaun Tan, Leigh Hobbs, Judy Watson
and Anna Pignataro. The Perfect Leaf is a glorious celebration of the Welcome Home is the story of a young boy and a
power of invention, and of the joys of being a whale as she swims into the harbour seeking
Children will love the humour and catchy rhymes
child. safety and a resolution to the violent past
of the twenty-nine poems featuring manic TVs,
relationship between whales and man. Can the
monsters and everything in between.
boy make amends for the past? Can the whale
forgive and return to what was once her ancestor’s
home?
5
Spark Great Goal! Marvellous Mark! Glitch
Written by Adam Wallace and illustrated by Written by Katrina Germain and illustrated by Written by Michelle Worthington and
Andrew Plant Janine Dawson illustrated by Andrew Plant
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 6-10 years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 4-6 years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 3-6 years
Notable Book – Children’s Book Council of Notable Book – Children’s Book Council of Notable Book – Children’s Book Council of
Australia Australia Australia
I began as a tiny spark in the dry grass. Get ready for a great game of football. There’s Glitch spends his life searching through mountains
All I wanted was a friend. plenty of action and masses of mud. Who will kick of mouldy mess at the dump. He wants to make
I found one in the wind, the first goal? Who will take the best mark? And the fastest billycart ever.
who helped me grow, who helped me to fly! will the yellow team win?
This year, he will be competing in the Big Race! But
But was the wind really my friend at all?
A zippy, colourful, wet and muddy children’s will his twitch stop him from winning?
weekend footy game that relates to all budding
AFL champions and their families.
6
Big and Me Ready, Steady, Hatch Riley and the Grumpy
By David Miller By Ben Long and David Cornish Wombat: a Journey around
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 7+ years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 2-5 years Melbourne
Written by Tania McCartney and illustrated by
Kieron Pratt
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 6-10 years
Notable Book – Children’s Book Council of
Big and Small are machines that work together as
Australia
a team. ‘But some days Big goes a bit wobbly, and I
get a lot worried.’ Big malfunctions in a variety of
ways and Small tries to help with the assistance of Round and bright and creamy white. Amid the
pumpkin patch, a clutch of eggs was sprouting Riley has discovered a wombat in his nanny’s
The Boss and Mechanic.
legs. Ready, steady, hatch! garden. But why is this furry creature so grumpy?
The story is a metaphor for a child living with an
Join Riley and his friends as they zoom around the
adult who suffers from mental illness. Big and Ten chicks are excited to discover the world stunning sights of Melbourne in search of a
Me is dramatically illustrated with paper sculpture. outside their eggshells, but the smallest is soon wombat that simply needs a place to call home.
separated from the rest. Where can she be?
A rollicking adventure about curiosity, camaraderie
and, above all, having a play along the way!
7
Riley and the Jumpy Home of the Cuckoo Clock The Chocolate Vampire
Kangaroo: a Journey around Written by Robert Favretto and illustrated by By Michael Salmon
David Eustace
Canberra hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5+ years
Written by Tania McCartney and illustrated by hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 6+ years
Kieron Pratt
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 6-10 years
Count Munch was a very unusual vampire. He
The village of Schoenwald is frozen in time. With didn’t like doing those creepy things that other
no clock to measure their lives, the townsfolk live vampires did – scaring lonely travellers in the dark
While visiting Canberra, Riley encounters a very
in chaos. Until an unexpected visitor arrives and forest, gnawing on necks, or even turning himself
jumpy kangaroo that is frantically searching for
changes the village that time forgot, forever. into a bat.
something she’s lost. Bounding around the iconic
sights of Canberra, can this roo finally find what Home of the Cuckoo Clock is a magical legend Somewhere along the way, things had gone
she’s been looking for? about the incredible cuckoo clock. terribly wrong. All Count Munch liked to do was
eat chocolate . . . and lots of it!
8
Belinda, the Ninja Ballerina Dance, Bilby, Dance Found You!
Written by Candidia Baker and illustrated by By Tricia Oktober By Mardi Davies
Mitch Vane
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5+ years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 3+ years
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5+ years
Bilby wishes he could dance. Everyone around him
bounces, whirls and prances. They’re having so ‘Ready or not, here I come!’
It’s every little girl’s dream to be a ballerina, right?
much fun! Can Bilby learn to dance too?
Well, not for Belinda, the ninja ballerina. The backyard is bursting with places to play hide-
and-seek. Florence Moon is seeking and Trevor is
Belinda would take a headstand over a pirouette
hiding. Terribly. Every time. Is Trevor good at
any day. But nobody will listen to Belinda’s
anything? Florence thinks she has the answer.
protests that she wants to be a ninja, not a
ballerina.
That is until Belinda stages a one-girl protest and
demands her rights. Her teacher has to put her
thinking cap on and finally comes up with a
solution that will keep everybody happy.
9
Blue Moon Gezani and the Tricky I Wish My Mum Was an
By Tricia Oktober Baboon Octopus
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5+ years Written by Valanga Khoza and illustrated by By Shona Revie Keenan and Lee Burgemeestre
Sally Rippin
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 4-6 years
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 4-7 years
Shona Keenan’s son Lachlan, at age four, said
Cat kneads and treads, weaving a dream mat. All exactly how she felt – there was not enough of her
‘Bananas, bananas, bananas on my head!’ Gezani to go around. What amazed her was that he gave
cats make them . . . to sleep on and to dream. Each
sets off to deliver a bunch of bananas to his the tentacles to the phone, kitchen, laundry, work
blue moon, cats come together in a fabulous
cousins on the hill. But along the way he meets and siblings first. Tentacle eight just wanted them
dream that lasts until dawn.
Tricky Baboon who is feeling very hungry. to be together.
Follow Cat’s adventures in the fantastical garden
Baboon tricks Gezani into leaving him the bananas. This book explains why we may not be with our
and see if you can spot the famous cats, fishbone
It is up to Gezani to teach Tricky Baboon a lesson! children as much as we may wish, but also
ferns, the pussy willows and tiger lilies. And could
that be a meerkat tangled up with Cat’s dreams? provides some humour into the extremely busy life
of a mother.
From one child to another. From one mother to
another.
10Jasper Juggles Jellyfish Rufus the Numbat Boxed Set – Marcy (series 2)
By Ben Long and David Cornish By David Miller and Too Cool (series 5)
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 2+ years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 4-6 years Marcy
Written by
Susan Halliday
and illustrated
by Tom Jellett
Too Cool
Written by Phil
Kettle and
illustrated by
Tom Jellett
Rights sold:
An octopus called Jasper gives up on learning the
China
basics at school to pursue something he thinks will
be more fun.
He soon finds that even fun things can be difficult Shortlisted – 2011 Environmental Award for
to learn. But luckily, a smack of jolly jellyfish are Children’s Literature by The Wilderness Society This set of 10 books contains:
there to help him every step of the way.
Rufus the numbat is just passing through. But his Netball Challenge
How many jellyfish do you think Jasper will be able Quiz Champs
quiet stroll through town causes all kinds of
to juggle by the end? Count along! Thirteen Dolphins
trouble. Rufus startles a cyclist and a Chinese
Lost Dogs
Maybe he will end up learning the basics without Dragon, creating all sorts of mayhem. Award Winners
even knowing it! Round ’em Up
David Miller’s minimalist text contrasts with his
detailed paper sculptures set over pen and ink The Race
The Big Bash
backgrounds.
Pirates
The Interview
11Butterfly and Oscar The Monster Who Ate Celia and Nonna
By Tricia Oktober Australia By Victoria Lane and Kayleen West
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5+ years By Michael Salmon hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 4+ years
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5-9 years
When Butterfly joins a family of dachshunds, she Celia loves sleepovers at her grandmother’s house.
Meet Burra the boggabri. Sensitive and shy, he
doesn’t realise how different she looks . . . until There are so many fun things to do. But everything
lives in a secret cave at the back of Uluru. Noisy
she unexpectedly sees herself in a mirror. changes when Celia’s grandmother moves to a
tourists disturb his peaceful life, driving him out
new home. Clever Celia decides to help make the
It takes Oscar, her best friend, to convince her that onto the road in search of a new home.
move easier – with delightful results!
the other dogs love her for herself. Butterfly and
During his travels around the countryside, Burra
Oscar is a joyful celebration of difference. Celia and Nonna is a heartwarming picture book
meets – and eats! – many famous Australian icons,
about the special bond between children and
creating havoc wherever he goes.
grandparents – and what happens when life
changes. Celia finds a delightful and positive way
to navigate this confusing time.
12Chasing Shadows Gracie and Josh Ships in the Field
Written by Corinne Fenton and illustrated by Written by Susanne Gervay and illustrated by Written by Susanne Gervay and illustrated by
Hannah Sommerville Serena Geddes Anna Pignataro
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5+ years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5+ years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 7+ years
Everyone feels sad sometimes, but when sadness Gracie’s brother Josh is funny and strong. He is
lingers, shadows appear. Some of us, even always there for his sister Gracie. Notable Book – Children’s Book Council of
children, chase shadows. Australia
Josh is a movie maker and Gracie is a star. Gracie
Will a wriggly, mischievous surprise help Beth works busily finding stories for her brother Josh Australia is an immigrant nation with many stories.
chase her shadows away? and gets angry at doctors who make Josh take off Ships in the Field is a moving and significant picture
his beanie. Together they make a film that book. It crosses boundaries in a universal
celebrates their relationship and the recognition that children are part of the journey of
wonderfulness of every day. war, migration, loss and healing.
Gracie and Josh is endorsed by Variety, the Through warmth, humour, pathos and story within
children’s charity, helping children live life to the story, it breaks the silence, engaging children,
fullest. families and community.
13The Lost Tail Bobo My Superdog Pirate Gold
Written by Patricia Bernard and illustrated by By Michael Salmon By Michael Salmon
Tricia Oktober
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5-10 years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5-10 years
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 5-10 years
Bobo appears to be like any other annoying, yappy
Yo ho ho and a bottle full of fun!
The Bundi Boys dance group will perform their little white and fluffy lap-dog. Bobo indeed has
snake dance in the dance competition at the another life, he is a dog with super powers: Super- Avast there, me hearties! Join the Piganeers, the
Goroka Show. Little Nura will carry the snake’s tail Bo, his kennel is in fact an Operations HQ with most bumbling band of swashbuckling pirates ever
in the dance, but what happens when the snake screens, monitors and lots of buttons to press. to sail the seven seas.
loses its tail?
He wears a mask so that he won’t be recognised Suffering seaweed! Captain Porker’s treasure is
and an old striped beach towel as a cape. Super-Bo missing, and he’s not happy!
About the Goroka Show: Each year, groups from all
is often called away to help when danger
over Papua New Guinea take part in the Goroka
threatens.
Show. This colourful cultural gathering attracts
thousands of participants in a celebration of Papua But he’s always back in time for dinner!
New Guinea’s diverse tribal rituals, talents, music
and dances.
14Jamie Brown is NOT Rich The Down Under 12 Days of Valdur the Viking and the
By Adam Wallace Christmas Ghostly Goths
B format paperback • 186 pages • 6-10 years By Michael Salmon By Craig Cormick
Rights sold: hardback, paperback • 32 pages B format paperback • 115 pages • 6-10 years
Santa Claus has landed in the outback and is busily
Hi. My name is Valdur and I’m a Viking. Well, I
Jamie Brown and his family have no money. checking his list. The kangaroos are in charge of all hope to be a real Viking one day. I’m still a child,
the presents and his koala helpers are not being but I do get to roam the seas on my father’s ship.
None. Zip. Zilch. Zero. Nada. Nix. Nachos. much help at all!
When a letter from the mysterious Barnaby Von Until, that is, I was kidnapped by his arch-enemy,
And are those crocodiles really ‘a-snoozing’? With the Goth pirate Germanicus Bottom. So now, by
Barnabus arrives, everything changes. The
surfing sharks, skiing snakes, dancing dingoes, Odin’s smelly socks, I have to fight Romans, sea
question is . . . can the Browns handle their
leaping lizards and lots more, Michael Salmon’s monsters and the Pirate Goths to rescue him.
newfound fortune? Only time, and maybe the
Aussie characters come to life in pictures and Luckily I have my dragon-dog Ragna with me
words in this book, will tell.
verse. though.
Welcome to Christmas ‘down-under’! And we are all ghosts. Did I mention that?
15Blood Money Bat Attack Shark Frenzy
Hazard River series Hazard River series Hazard River series
By J.E. Fison By J.E. Fison By J.E. Fison
B format paperback • 101 pages • 8+ years B format paperback • 101 pages • 8+ years B format paperback • 86 pages • 8+ years
Everyone wants to have cool new stuff. Right? So It’s New Year’s Eve and Jack Wilde and his friends Jack, Ben, Lachlan and Mimi discover a dead shark
when Jack Wilde and his friends find a bag full of are getting ready for a night of fun at the local washed up on Hazard River. The shark has no fins.
money at Hazard River, it looks like all of their disco. But when a mad driver almost runs them When another shark washes up without fins, the
dreams have come true. But as they soon discover, over, things start to go badly wrong. gang decides to investigate.
money doesn’t always bring happiness.
Sometimes, it buys a whole lot of trouble. Will New Year’s Eve be the best night of their lives Their attempt to uncover what is killing the sharks
or the very worst? As the clock ticks towards leads them to a marine park. They discover
midnight, only time will tell. fishermen killing endangered grey nurse sharks
and taking their fins for shark fin soup in Asia. The
Hazard River crew must stop them at all costs!
16Snake Surprise Tiger Terror Toads’ Revenge
Hazard River series Hazard River series Hazard River series
By J.E. Fison By J.E. Fison By J.E. Fison
B format paperback • 93 pages • 8+ years B format paperback • 92 pages • 8+ years B format paperback • 82 pages • 8+ years
Tigers are on the verge of extinction. Everyone When a famous adventurer moves to Hazard River,
It’s a boring wet day on Hazard River until Jack
knows that. So why does Jack Wilde think he’s Jack, Ben, Mimi and Lachlan want to meet him. But
Wilde and his friends find a note on an abandoned
seen a tiger paw in a medicine shop in Chinatown? instead of getting to know Just Orsum, the kids
boat. The message is damaged but they can all
read the words HELP ME. The gang must find out end up on his most dangerous and daring mission
To find out the truth, Jack and his friends must
who needs help and why. But as they get closer to ever.
become junior spies. But they soon realise that
the answer, will they be the ones who need help? their mission is anything but child’s play. Where will they end up? And more importantly,
how will they ever get back?
17Middle Readers Gorski’s Bitemare
By Robert Favretto
Trust Me
Edited by Paul Collins
B format paperback • 412 pages
B format paperback • 100 pages
Trust Me Too
Edited by Paul Collins
B format paperback • 481 pages
Gorski the vampire is in a flap! Following a frightful
event, he has noticed his fangs are shrinking and
that he faints at the sight of blood.
Notable Book – Children’s Book Council of Australia
What is he going to do? Can he find a cure, or will
International Youth Library - White Raven Selection
things go from bat to worse?
Trust Me! and Trust Me Too feature original
contributions by over 50 of Australia’s best known
children’s authors, poets and illustrators. Stories
and poems cover all genres: mystery, romance,
crime, fantasy, science fiction, humour and more.
18The Vanilla Slice Kid Harry Kruize, Born to Lose Greylands
By Adam Wallace and Jack Wodhams, By Paul Collins By Isobelle Carmody
illustrated by Tom Gittus
B format paperback • 224 pages • 11+ years B format paperback • 189 pages • 12+ years
B format paperback • 100 pages • 11+ years
A tale of the acceptance of change and loss; the
importance of friends and family, and the uplifting WINNER – Aurealis Award for Best Young Adult
Shortlisted – Young Australians’ Best Book Novel
strength that comes from hope.
Awards
Harry’s mum runs a boarding house for transient One wakeful night in the aftermath of his mother’s
Archie Cunningham is a shy boy who has three old men who are down on their luck. More than death, Jack enters a land devoid of colour or scent.
things – incredibly mean and greedy parents, no anything in the world, Harry would love to enter a Here he meets the tragic laughing beast and Alice,
friends, and an amazing power. dog into the Annual Gala race and win it. a strange girl with a secret.
When an uploaded video shows the world what A new lodger, Jack Ellis, befriends Harry and shares Will Jack escape before the terrifying wolvers find
Archie can do, he suddenly becomes the main a wealth of outback adventure stories featuring him? Or is he destined to be trapped in the
ingredient in a recipe for world domination. dogs with him. Greylands forever?
Which is when the fun really begins! Only the cats know . . .
19Three The Glasshouse The Poppy
By Justin D’Ath Written by Paul Collins and illustrated by Jo By Andrew Plant
Thompson
B format paperback • 270 pages • 11+ years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 9+ years
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 7+ years
Sixteen-year-old Sunday Balewo is next in line for
Stunningly illustrated in over 70 paintings, The
the presidency of Zantuga. When his father dies, Shortlisted – Crichton Award for New Illustrators
Selected – IBBY (International Board on Books for Poppy is the true story of one of Australia’s
Sunday finds himself on the run from the
Young People): 50 Outstanding Books Exhibition greatest victories, and of a promise kept for nearly
unlikeliest of assassins – a baboon with a bomb.
a century.
Not just an action-packed thriller, but a novel Clara lives in her perfect world. Her glasshouse is On Anzac Day, 1918, a desperate night counter-
about friendship, loyalty and the value of life itself. free of bugs, and her prized pumpkins free of attack in the French village of Villers-Bretonneux
blemishes. One day a boy walks into her life and became one of Australia’s greatest victories. A
slowly Clara realises that her world is not perfect bond was forged that night between France and
at all. Her paranoia spreads and she loses all her Australia that has never been broken. Villers-
customers. Finally, she must face up to the Bretonneux is ‘The town that never forgets’.
realisation that she must make allowances and
compromise if she is to survive.
20Gamers’ Trilogy Book Three: Gamers’ Rebellion
B format paperback • 176 pages • 8+ years
By George Ivanoff
Book One: Gamers’ Quest
B format paperback • 172 pages • 11+ years WINNER – Chronos Award for Best Long Fiction
When Zyra is captured by the Designers, Tark finds
WINNER – Chronos Award for Best Short Fiction himself among a group of teenage rebels. It seems like
Tark and Zyra are to be the pawns in other people’s
Tark and Zyra are teenage thieves on a quest. In a power games. They soon discover the sinister uses to
world where dragons and mages exist alongside which the game is being put and the shocking way it is
drones and lasers, they endeavour to reach the haven all operated — with dozens of kidnapped children
of Designers’ Paradise. But their world is not what it wired directly into the mainframe, their brains keeping
appears to be and their haven is about to come under the whole thing going.
threat of destruction. Can Tark and Zyra save
Will Tark and Zyra be able to free these children? Will they even be able to
Designers’ Paradise and their own world?
remain in the real world? Or will the Designers’ plans for world domination win
out?
Book Two: Gamers’ Challenge
B format paperback • 200 pages • 11+ years
For Tark and Zyra, life was literally just a game,
controlled by the all-powerful Designers. But then
they broke the rules and life got a whole lot more
complicated and deadly. Pursued by a powerful
computer virus, they must locate the Ultimate Gamer
with the help of some unexpected allies, and face
their greatest challenge — finding a way out of the
game.
21City of Monsters Trilogy
By DC Green
‘A wild, wise-cracking ride.’ – Ian Irvine
Book One: Monster School
B format paperback • 291 pages • 10+ years
Book Two: Goblin Mafia Wars
B format paperback • 358 pages • 10+ years
Book Three: Dragon Apocalypse
B format paperback • 409 pages • 10+ years
‘Beware! You are entering The City of Monsters.
All tourists will be eaten. Have a nice day!’
I’m PT, the Swamp Boy, and I’m terrified! During my first class at Monster
School, mafia goblins threatened to murder me and I was saved by the meanest
monsters in school.
Everyone wants me dead – except my Dead Gang monster mates. And our
quests have only just begun:
Escape the Dead Zone (without being eaten)!
Find the lost eggs of the world’s last dragon!
Challenge a brainwashed grommet king!
Prevent a goblin mafia war!
Oh, and save the world!
22The Warlock’s Child series Book Four: Trial by Dragons
B format paperback • 97 pages • 10+ years
By Paul Collins and Sean McMullen
It’s hard to save the world when you are in jail. Dantar
Book One: The Burning Sea
and Velza need to escape from jails six hundred miles
B format paperback • 118 pages • 10+ years
apart to stop their father unleashing a catastrophically
There is no lower rank than cabin boy on the warship, dangerous spell. Both will soon learn that they are not
Invincible. But Dantar knows he is important, because just special, they are also very dangerous.
anyone who threatens his life gets turned into a pile of
ashes. With his older sister Velza, a shapecasting warrior,
Book Five: Voyage to Morticas
Dantar must solve the mystery of broken magic and
B format paperback • 112 pages • 10+ years
escape the dragon. Although Dantar is able to shapeshift into dragon form,
he still thinks like a rebellious teenager. Velza has been
Book Two: Dragonfall Mountain
given the ultimate gift by the dragons of Dracondas –
B format paperback • 100 pages • 10+ years
the mind of a dragon. Now they must combine their gifts
The Invincible has been attacked, and Dantar’s only to stop the most powerful warlock of all time from
escape from his enemies is through the foul-smelling casting his doomsday spell.
sewers of Savaria. Can Dantar and Velza deliver the city
from danger?
Book Six: The Guardians
B format paperback • 116 pages • 10+ years
Book Three: The Iron Claw
The Dracondian dragons – once powerful and
B format paperback • 119 pages • 10+ years
dangerous – now lie helpless on the mountaintop as a
The warlock Calbaras wants to revive the ancient, human army closes in to kill them. Only the warlock’s
forbidden magic of dragons. His son Dantar is vital to his children, Dantar and Velza, can save them. But will their
plans. Dantar is on the run in an enemy kingdom, own powers be enough?
unaware that he is so important. Worse, his sister Velza is And what of the evil Calbaras? Can he achieve his aim to
now working for the enemy king. become the greatest warlock of all time?
23Quentaris: Quest of the Lost City series
Book One: The Spell of Undoing
By Paul Collins
B format paperback • 186 pages • 12+ years
A vengeful plot by warlike Tolrush, has uprooted the city of Quentaris, and
hurled it into the uncharted rift-maze. Lost and adrift in this endless labyrinth of
parallel universes, encountering both friend and foe and facing unknown
dangers, Quentaris must somehow forge a new identity and find its way home.
Book Two: The Equen Queen
By Alyssa Brugman
B format paperback • 163 pages • 12+ years
While moored to a new world, Quentaris is approached by another sky-city. The
traders on board seem friendly and generous, offering the Quentarans food and
gems, but are they setting a trap for Quentaris? Despite losing her special
powers Tab Vidler must find some answers fast, before all is lost.
Book Three: The Gimlet Eye
By James Roy
B format paperback • 226 pages • 12+ years
Much has changed in the sky-city of Quentaris. With the Archon dead, dark
forces have come into play. New faces are appearing, familiar ones vanishing,
and the horrid Florian has claimed the throne. Then, as Quentaris slips quietly
through a vortex into the watery world of the Yarka, Tab Vidler and her friends
suddenly realise they are the city’s only hope.
24The Legend Series Clearing the Pack
B format paperback • 148 pages • 10+ years
By Michael Panckridge
Football and netball are the next two sports in the
Chasing the Break
Legends series, and Travis and Mia are flying high.
B format paperback • 128 pages • 10+ years
Travis steps up his intimidation tactics, knowing he’s got
Eight different sporting challenges await the students at to win this one to stay in the race. But has he gone too far
Sandhurst Primary School. This year, the competition will this time? Can Mitchell and Travis set aside their
be hotter than ever. Can the new kid, Mitchell Grady, differences to battle the tough Wetherhood team and
take down last year’s winner and infamous bad boy, achieve the impossible?
Travis Fisk? It all starts with the Legend of the Surf.
Over the Wall
Against the Spin B format paperback • 148 pages • 10+ years
B format paperback • 148 pages • 10+ years
It’s the halfway point of the Legends Cup and the
It’s official, Mitchell Grady is a sporting legend. Now it’s competition is heating up. Only two points behind
time to let the ball games begin. Travis Fisk, the school Mitchell, Fisk is boasting that he will be crowned the
bully, has been put back in his place. But for how long? Legend of Soccer, but Mitchell has other ideas. Elsewhere
It’s a battle on and off the field as Mitchell and his there is a mystery unfolding that reveals a secret that has
friends strive for victory and the chance to be crowned been hidden for years.
Legends of Cricket.
On the Buzzer
Down the Line B format paperback • 168 pages • 10+ years
B format paperback • 140 pages • 10+ years
It’s Round 6 and basketball is the next sport in the action-
Surely Travis Fisk, the school thug who’ll do whatever it packed Legends series. But the competition takes a back
takes to win, won’t let him win three events in a row. seat when Sandhurst’s sporting reputation is put on the
What will he try this time? line.
For the first time Mitch and Luci are pitted directly
against their friends. It’s one thing to play your enemies
and win, but how does it feel to beat your friends? It’s ‘An authentically Australian series that boys
not all fair play when the stakes are high. can not only relate to, but actually want to
read.’ – Bookseller and Publisher
25Footy Dreaming The Ice-cream Man Crime Time
By Michael Hyde By Jenny Mounfield By Sue Bursztynski
B format paperback • 190 pages • 11+ years B format paperback • 186 pages • 12+ years B format paperback • 208 pages
Ben and Noah play on opposing teams in a footy- One summer afternoon, three boys play a prank Crime Time – Australians Behaving Badly is a
obsessed town. They each dream of playing on the on the ice-cream man. This one decision sets into collection of true Australian crime stories ranging
G – and this is their make or break season. motion a chain of events that will forge a life-long from bushrangers such as Ned Kelly and Mad Dan
Tensions rise as sledging goes too far. bond, testing each boy as never before. Morgan through to serial killers, fraudsters and
Will Noah lose his cool, and his chance, in the face Three boys united by fear and their need for modern celebrity criminals.
of prejudice? Will Ben reject racism and forge his friendship. Three boys united against the ice- It has an introduction by Kerry Greenwood and
own path? Noah and Ben both have the potential cream man. contains details of the crimes, biographical details,
to play in the AFL. It’s up to each of them whether
portraits by Louise Prout and interesting trivia in
they make it.
Did You Know boxes.
26In the Beech Forest The Cuckoo The Star
Written by Gary Crew and illustrated by Dan Written by Gary Crew and illustrated by Naomi By Felicity Marshall
Scheer Turvey
hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 10+ years
hardback • 32 pages • 10+ years hardback, paperback • 32 pages • 10+ years
The Star reflects the contemporary phenomenon
In the Beech Forest is a story from long ago, from Gary Crew at his fantastical best! Martin is the runt of ‘fame without substance’, a part of our
celebrity-soaked culture.
now and from the future. of his family. Without a mother to protect him, his
overbearing father and brothers reject him. Aided Marion, a wooden doll, her friend Harley and their
An ordinary boy takes a path leading him from the
by the self-sacrifice of loving friends, Martin finds dog Polka, enter the World of Fame where Marion
safety of his home into a dark forest. His head is
the courage to fight for personal fulfilment. becomes a glamorous Star. But she learns painfully
full of the fearful images of his computer games
that stardom has a use-by-date. Her experience
that so excite, yet terrify him; battles between ‘An ideal read for children and adults alike,
changes her forever but her true friends still love
heroes and dreadful beasts that may haunt this particularly young boys’ – Candida Baker in The
her. The story explores the superficiality of
primal landscape. Sydney Morning Herald
stardom and the value of true friendship.
What will become of him on this journey? Will he
survive? Will he defeat his fears? Will he emerge,
still an ordinary boy?
27Finding Home Stephanie Chiocci and the My Extraordinary Life and
Written by Gary Crew and illustrated by Susy Cooper’s Hill Cheese Chase Death
Boyer By Matt Porter By Doug MacLeod
hardback • 32 pages • 10+ years B format paperback • 74 pages • 10+ years Gatefold paperback • 140 pages • 12+ years
Rich and beautiful, Gary Crew’s text is redolent
Stephanie Chiocci is a team captain in the
with the sounds and colours of the Australian WINNER – Chronos Award for Best Artwork
Women’s Australian Football League. Full of
bush. This picture book for older children is an ode
humour and action, the book contains many
and an obituary to the indigenous landscape, What is The Tight Trouser Club? How do you
football references, words and skills but also sees
much of which was destroyed by white colonists. survive a father who buries you in the garden
Stephanie Chiocci using her football skills outside a
whenever you misbehave? And who do you
Ignorance and selfishness can destroy the things game situation and being a role model for girls.
contact when your wife starts to shrink?
we love and value most – the child whose parents
Stephanie has taken it upon herself to save the
don’t value his differences, the beauty of wild None of these questions are answered in My
family cheese-making business of one of her fans.
nature – and this story offers the reader a Extraordinary Life and Death, though what do you
Standing at the summit of Cooper’s Hill in England,
metaphor for the greater destruction of the expect if the author is dead?
Stephanie prepares to barrel down the slope in the
environment through thoughtless acts.
annual Gloucester Cheese-Rolling Race, one of the
word’s most dangerous foot races.
28Older Readers Rich and Rare
Edited by Paul Collins
Paper Cranes Don’t Fly
by Peter Vu
B format paperback • 512 pages B format paperback • 298 pages • 13+ years
Notable Book –
Children’s Book
Council of Australia
A violin that comes to life, a knitting needle ninja, For Adam Auttenberg, hospital is like a second
a cat with many names, a prince who finds a home. With Tess, AJ, and Rachael by his side, it’s
friend, an alien invasion . . . even bearable. Facing the toughest challenge of
his life, all Adam has to help him are his friends.
Welcome to a world of ‘beauty rich and rare’, a But will they be enough?
world of natural (and unnatural) gifts on every
page – from humour to horror, thriller to fantasy – This story describes the life of a cancer patient in a
encompassing the past, the present and the way that few other young adult books do, focusing
future. not just on living with cancer, but going through it,
with the help of patience, love and friendship.
Contributors include: Gary Crew, Justin D’Ath, Scot
Gardner, Kerry Greenwood, Leigh Hobbs, Sofie
Laguna, Shaun Tan and Gabrielle Wang.
29The Things We Can’t Undo Pretty Girls Don’t Eat Pool
By Gabrielle Reid By Winnie Salamon By Justin D’Ath
B format paperback • 346 pages • 15+ years B format paperback • 208 pages • 13+ years B format paperback • 297 pages
Rights sold: France
There’s no backspace key for life’s decisions.
Sixteen-year-old Winter Mae Jones knows exactly
Samantha and Dylan are in love – everyone knows what she wants: a career in fashion design. There’s Something strange has happened to the public
it. They’ve been together for nearly a year, so it’s only one thing standing in her way – ‘fat girls’ swimming pool. The water is no longer level and is
nothing to be worried about when they leave don’t work in the fashion industry. rumoured to have curative powers.
Saturday night’s party in favour of a quiet
So Winter decides to take matters into her own When sixteen-year-old Wolfgang Mulqueen takes
bedroom. Right?
hands. She goes on a diet, which at first makes her a summer job at the pool, he meets Audrey, a
Malicious rumours are spreading throughout their feel fab and in control. It’s only when things get blind girl who claims she’s nocturnal. With the
Sydney private school, and Sam is avoiding Dylan. out of hand that she comes to realise that, not discovery of a butterfly unknown to science, and
He’s fast discovering the effects that one bad an unusual request from Audrey’s father,
only has she less control than she thought, but
misunderstanding can have. Will Sam make a also that her weight has nothing to do with what’s Wolfgang finds himself inextricably drawn into an
decision she can’t take back? holding her back. eighteen-year-old mystery, the tragic resolution of
which will change his life forever.
30The Variants series The Rare series
By Cheree Peters By Foz Meadows
Book One: Time Catcher Book One: Solace and Grief
B format paperback • 382 pages • 12+ years B format paperback • 363 pages • 15+ years
In a post-apocalyptic world of rigid rules, Althea’s Solace Morgan is a vampire. She has tried to keep
luxurious life is turned upside-down when she is her abilities secret, until an eerie encounter with a
kidnapped by the dreaded Variants. faceless man prompts her to run away.
Betrayed by those she trusts most, Althea is forced to Finding others with similar gifts, Solace soon
question everything she thought she knew – including becomes caught up in a strange, more vibrant
who she is and what she’s capable of. world than she ever knew existed. But when the
mysterious Professor Lukin takes an interest in her,
Are the Variants dangerous insurgents or a new breed
she is forced to start asking questions of her own.
of human, fighting for freedom? Althea must separate
What happened to her parents? And since when
deception from truth to claim her own power.
has there been a medieval dungeon under Hyde Park?
Book Two: Time Warper
Book Two: The Key to Starveldt
B format paperback • 370 pages • 12+ years
B format paperback • 385 pages • 15+ years
After discovering that she is a Variant, Althea and her
Having escaped from Sanguisidera, Solace and her
friends must continue their escape from the Cardiff
friends are in desperate need of guidance. Seeking
armament. What awaits in the woods and beyond is
to unravel a cryptic prophecy, they travel to the
only the beginning of Thea’s worries. Her memories
Rookery. Magical and wild, the Rookery tests them
continue to return, leaving her with questions she
all in preparation for the crossing to Starveldt.
doesn’t know if she wants the answer to.
The threat of Lord Grief continues to grow; old
With her Ability growing stronger, will Althea be able
betrayals, lies and secrets boil to the surface – with
to protect her friends and family from an old enemy
startling consequences. As danger closes in, can
and a new threat?
they make their peace before everything falls apart?
31The Jelindel Chronicles Book Three: Dragonsight
B format paperback • 358 pages • 12+ years
By Paul Collins
Three mercenaries. Poison coursing through their
Rights sold: Portugal
veins. And only six weeks to find a stolen dragon
relic.
Book One: Dragonlinks
Book Four: Wardragon
B format paperback • 386 pages
B format paperback • 463 pages • 12+ years
An all-powerful, enchanted mailshirt from the stars.
Six links are missing. An orphan, a streetwise urchin A sorceress. A swordsman. A thieving larrikin. A
and a swordsman must find the links before the deadliest foe, the omnipotent, Wardragon.
greatest evil known descends upon Q’zar. ‘Collins captures a terrifying, tense world with a
‘Dragonlinks offers compulsive reading in a thrilling touch of humour and holds it to the last
and wonderfully imagined quest for the individually shattering battle.’ – Allan Baille
power-bestowing links of a mysterious and arcane
mailshirt. The story performs the unusual feat of
combining meticulous and original world-building
with a matchless heroine in the extraordinary young
Countess Jelindel.’ – Isobelle Carmody.
Book Two: Dragonfang
B format paperback • 342 pages • 12+ years
Five pentagram gems. Two people want them. Only
one can have them.
‘Anyone who has read Dragonlinks will recognise
Paul Collins as a writer who truly understands the
power of high fantasy. It is the power to tease the
imagination with worlds so exotic, yet so seemingly
familiar, that we allow ourselves to recognise within
them the best and worst that we can be.’ – Brian
Caswell.
32Alyzon Whitestarr Scatterlings Voicing the Dead
By Isobelle Carmody By Isobelle Carmody By Gary Crew
paperback • 601 pages • 12+ years paperback • 280 pages • 12+ years paperback • 345 pages • 15+ years
Notable Book – Children’s
Book Council of Australia
Merlin wakes to a world that is utterly changed.
WINNER – Golden Aurealis Award You ask, ‘Can the dead speak?’
She has no memory besides a name whispered to
her by one of the strange voices in her mind, and I answer, ‘Is this blood that runs in my veins, or
Most people have six limited senses. But after a the knowledge that she is being hunted. She is ink? I ask that you read me. I ask that you hear me.
freak accident, Alyzon Whitestarr finds her senses determined to learn what happened to her. Merlin See me. Touch me. Others have, and tasted my
growing. She hears and sees and smells things no is swept up by the renegade Scatterlings and blood.’
one else can detect. drawn into their rebellion against the all- powerful
So writes Jack Ireland, a teenage English-born
Citizen Gods.
She begins to smell something truly terrible; a shipwreck survivor captured by headhunters. In
sickness of the spirit infecting some people, As she strives to separate herself from the Voicing the Dead, internationally-awarded author
leading them to violence and destruction. It is only telepathic clanfolk, she discovers the way to the Gary Crew revisits the astonishing story of
as she strives to discover its origin that she realises freedom the Scatterlings’ seek, lead to the same nineteenth-century teenager Jack Ireland who
the infection is targeting people she loves, and place – the forbidden domed city of the Citizen survived – and lived to fight back through his
that it is aware. Gods. ‘never say die’ determination and creativity.
33Flora’s War Crossing the Line They Told Me I Had to Write
By Pamela Rushby By Dianne Bates This
B format paperback • 243 pages • 11+ years B format paperback • 215 pages By Kim Miller
Rights sold: Germany B format paperback • 204 pages • 13+ years
Notable Book – Children’s Book Council of Blamed for the death of his mother, carrying a
Australia For a long time and unknown to others, Sophie has
terrible secret and in trouble with the police, Clem
been self-harming: more recently she has been in
is now in a school for toxic teenagers. And that
In 1915, sixteen-year-old Flora Wentworth, visits therapy.
rev-head school counsellor wants him to write
Cairo with her archaeologist father. Flora’s
Concerned about Sophie’s increasing depression, letters. Through his writing Clem goes deep into
comfortable life is turned upside down when a
the doctor admits her to a hospital. There, Sophie the trauma that has defined his life, and comes
hospital visit thrusts her into the realities of World
is placed in an adolescent ward where she forms face to face with his mother’s death.
War 1. She is soon transporting injured soldiers,
tentative relationships with other troubled
helping out exhausted nurses, and managing to fall In a rush of bush bike racing, the death of one
teenagers and begins sessions with psychiatrist,
in love along the way. student and the consequent arrest of another, an
Helen Marshall. However, the doctor crosses the
unexpected first girlfriend, and some surprising
As Flora battles to save lives and find her own, a patient-therapist line, but so too does Sophie.
friendships, Clem’s story is the celebration of a boy
tragic misunderstanding changes everything. who finds an unexpected future.
34The Maximus Black Files
By Paul Collins
In a galaxy of cutthroat companies, shadowy clans and a million agendas, spy
agency RIM barely wields enough control to keep order.
Maximus Black is RIM’s star cadet. But he has a problem. One of RIM’s best
agents, Anneke Longshadow, knows there’s a mole in the organisation. And
Maximus has a lot to hide.
Mole Hunt
B format paperback • 346 pages • 12+ years
Dyson’s Drop
B format paperback • 335 pages • 12+ years
The Only Game in the Galaxy
B format paperback • 333 pages • 12+ years
35Riggs Crossing In Lonnie’s Shadow f2m: The Boy Within
By Michelle Heeter By Chrissie Michaels By Hazel Edwards and Ryan Kennedy
B format paperback • 306 pages B format paperback • 334 pages B format paperback • 330 pages
A girl is found in the wreckage of a car crash. The discovered artifacts from an archaeological dig
Severely injured and psychologically damaged, the International Youth Library -
in Melbourne become the backdrop for this story
girl cannot, or will not, tell the authorities who she White Raven Selection
about a group of teenagers in 1891 who are
is or where she comes from. Her carers call her struggling to make their way in a world that seems
‘Len’, after the name embroidered on the jumper to be conspiring against them whichever way they Skye plays guitar in the all-female Chronic Cramps
she was wearing when she was found. turn. band. Making her name in the punk/indie scene is
easier than FTM (female to male) transitioning:
Secretive, intelligent, and abrasive, Len is moved Lonnie McGuinness knows only one thing for sure from Skye to Finn, from girl to man.
to a children’s shelter. Slowly, Len’s repressed – there doesn’t seem to be any fairness in life for
memories fight their way to the surface of her him or his mates. So he decides to take matters Transgender identity is more than injections and
troubled mind. And an evil figure from her into his own hands. But when does a favour turn surgery, it’s about acceptance. With help from
shadowy past comes looking for her. into a crime? And when should a secret no longer mates and family who don’t want to lose a
be kept? daughter, but who love their teenager, Finn is
transitioning.
36My Private Pectus Dead Dog in the Still of the Before the Storm
By Shane Thamm Night By Sean McMullen
B format paperback • 278 pages By Archimede Fusillo B format paperback • 262 pages
B format paperback • 278 pages
‘There’s something different about my body. It’s
like the missing piece of a jigsaw you can’t take In the garage at the back of the family home sits Fox and BC travel through time from the distant
your eyes off. If I were to take off my shirt you Primo’s father’s pride and joy; a red Fiat 500 future to 1901. Elite cadets in the Imperial Army,
wouldn’t see my face, freckles or ratty hair. All Classic. It waits amongst the dust motes for they are young, handsome, well-mannered . . . and
you’d see is the hole in the middle of my chest.’ Primo’s father to recover, to come out of his now, mutineers.
paranoia and delusions. It waits and teases, like They have journeyed into the past to save the
A story about sport, cars and a young man who
nothing else can – least of all the demands of opening ceremony of Australia’s first parliament
discovers that revealing his greatest secret is the
everyday life, for things to return to normal. And from being bombed. If the cadets fail, thousands
only way to hold on to the people he loves.
that isn’t going to happen any time soon. will die, sparking a century of total war. However,
to change the destiny of the world, the young
warriors will need the help of three ordinary
teenagers.
37Changing Yesterday
The Sequel to Before the Storm
By Sean McMullen
B format paperback • 375 pages
It’s 1901 and Battle Commander Liore has
travelled back in time to stop a war that will rage
for over a hundred years. But time itself is against
her. Whenever she changes history, a new
beginning to the war emerges and the world once
again teeters on the brink of disaster.
To make matters worse, Barry the Bag has stolen
Liore’s plasma rifle, the most dangerous weapon in
the world. Can anything prevent Liore from risking
the world’s future for the sake of revenge?
38Ford Street Publishing
162 Hoddle Street
Abbotsford, VIC 3067
Australia
Ph: +61 3 9416 4062
Email: Paul or Abigail intrights@fordstreetpublishing.com
Web: fordstreetpublishing.com
39You can also read
